LONDON, May 11 — Humans have made our planet warmer, more polluted and ever less hospitable to many species, and these changes are driving the spread of infectious disease.
Biodiversity loss appears to play an outsize role in increasing infectious disease, according to work published in the journalIt analysed nearly 3,000 datasets from existing studies to see how biodiversity loss, climate change, chemical pollution, habitat loss or change, and species introduction affect infectious disease in humans, animals and plants.
The warmer weather produced by climate change offers new habitats for disease vectors, as well as longer reproductive seasons.A youngster enjoys a fountain during a heat wave hitting the country, in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on May 9, 2024. — ETX-Relaxnews picHabitat loss or change was associated with a drop in infectious disease, largely because of the sanitary improvements that come with urbanisation, like running water and sewage systems.
The findings are not necessarily all good news, cautioned lead author Mark Smith, an associate professor of water research at the University of Leeds. Local temperature and rainfall forecasts are already used to predict dengue upticks, but they offer a short lead-time and can be unreliable.